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Organizing Workers in the Space Between Unions: Union-Centric Labor Revitalization and the Role of Community-Based Organizations
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Organizing Workers in the Space Between Unions
Union-Centric Labor Revitalization and the Role of Community-Based Organizations
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Paper Submitted for Consideration
American Sociological Association
January 17, 2008
Richard Sullivan
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Illinois State University, Campus Box 4660
Normal, Illinois 61790-4660
Email:
## email not listed ##
Phone: 309.438.2408
Fax: 309.438.5378
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the “union-centric” character of the sociology of labor revitalization and the analytic problems that result from it. Specifically, the tendency of labor scholars to focus primarily on unions may lead to excluding from research and theorizing, the contributions being made by community-based labor organizations operating outside the collective bargaining framework. Using the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles as an example, I show that trade unions are not the only organizational form the labor movement might take. And that alternative forms are well-suited to organize in industries such as apparel manufacturing, where collective bargaining is not viable. I conclude by calling for a more expansive conceptualization of the labor movement in order to capture the innovations taking place in the space between unions.
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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0327301
.
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| | Authors: Sullivan, Richard. |
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1
Organizing Workers in the Space Between Unions
Union-Centric Labor Revitalization and the Role of Community-Based Organizations
1
Paper Submitted for Consideration
American Sociological Association
January 17, 2008
Richard Sullivan
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Illinois State University, Campus Box 4660
Normal, Illinois 61790-4660
Email:
## email not listed ##
Phone: 309.438.2408
Fax: 309.438.5378
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the “union-centric” character of the sociology of labor revitalization and the
analytic problems that result from it. Specifically, the tendency of labor scholars to focus
primarily on unions may lead to excluding from research and theorizing, the contributions being
made by community-based labor organizations operating outside the collective bargaining
framework. Using the Garment Worker Center in Los Angeles as an example, I show that trade
unions are not the only organizational form the labor movement might take. And that alternative
forms are well-suited to organize in industries such as apparel manufacturing, where collective
bargaining is not viable. I conclude by calling for a more expansive conceptualization of the
labor movement in order to capture the innovations taking place in the space between unions.
1
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0327301
.
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